Prisoners take up spiritual exercise inside jail

Baripada, Feb 13 (UNI) The prisoners in the Baripada Circle Jail here have taken recourse to the spiritual route by incorporating it into their daily routines.

The jail premises now provide a unique sight each Sunday as all the inmates gather in the open-air lawn inside the protected campus of the jail and participate in breathing exercises which serve as a potent energizer for them.

Senior Superintendent of the Baripada Circle Jail Shibdas Chand said an eight-day long workshop on the ''Art of Living'' techniques was organised by Yoga teacher Pramila Sahoo for the prisoners.

The workshop, the second of its kind in the jail so far, inspired at least 74 inmates, including twelve women prisoners.

It concluded on January 15, but the practice of the Sudarshan Kriya has become very popular among the jail inmates, Mr Chand said.

He said on each Sunday, two workers from The Art of Living Chapter visit the jail to see how the jail inmates were progressing with their Sudarshan Kriya exercises.

The participants included both under-trial prisoners and those serving life imprisonment for being involved in murder cases, jail sources said.

Chema Ho, a 33-year-old prisoner, of Khadabundh village under Thakurmunda police station limits of Mayurbhanj, said the regular Yoga practices had flushed out the mental stress and frustration.

Chema Ho, involved in the triple murder case of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two minor sons - Philip and Timothy, is now undergoing Rigorous Imprisonsment (RI) for life.

Yet another life prisoner, Jadunath Mohanto, of Gurguria village under Mahuldiha police station limits, said he had overcome all his mental stress, tension and frustrations after he took the Yogic route at Baripada jail.

Mohanto is serving RI for life for his involvement in the murder of Catholic priest Arul Doss of Jambuni church under Mahuldiha police station limit of Mayurbhanj.

Referring to their experiences about the Yogic route, six women convicts of Baripada jail said the exercises had helped them get rid of the worries about the future and regrets for the past.

''Our mind is now free to enjoy life in peace and harmony,'' they added.